Elsie Piddock Skips in Her Sleep

by Eleanor Farjeon

Little Elsie Piddock is a born skipper. When she is scarcely five, she can outskip anyone in her village. By the time she’s six, her name and fame have spread to all the villages in the county. And by the time she’s seven, the fairies have heard of her. When Master Skipper Andy-Spandy summons the sleeping little girl to Mount Caburn for a contest, the tireless Elsie outskips even the fairies and is rewarded with a gift of rare and lasting value. Can she use it later to save the fabled skipping grounds of Caburn? Or will a greedy lord build a factory where children have played for centuries?